


I'll Be God (I'll Fake God)

by Sam_Nook



Series: And The Strings Have Yet to Be Cut [2]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Confrontation, and so the game between them continues, dream in prison what will he do, focuses on dream, ghostinnit, headcanons for why dream killed tommy, phantommy, spoilers for march 1st stream, tommy ghost, tommy visits dream after his death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:48:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29810748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sam_Nook/pseuds/Sam_Nook
Summary: It made Dream feel like a god. He could control when and if people lived or died.
Series: And The Strings Have Yet to Be Cut [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2191545
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this while listening to Fallen Down on repeat. This story focuses on Dream's plans and why he killed Tommy. It also hosts my version of Tommy's ghost. This is all speculation. 
> 
> The title of the story is taken from Oh, Ana by Mother Mother. 
> 
> Remember, this story is about the characters of the Dream SMP and not the actual content creators.

It was quiet, quieter than it had been in the last week. If it had been a week, Dream didn't know, nor did he care. Dream was patient; he needed to be when walking on thin ice. Patience led to control, and he craved control.

The lava on the other side of the cell gurgled and spittled with injustice as it flowed slowly next to the lifeless body of Dream's former cellmate. It wasn't fair, but Dream hadn't played fair in months. He would have pushed the body into the lava, but Dream had some mercy. He supposed he ought to give the server a body to bury. It would help the reality sink in. 

Dream knew that Sam would be back; he had already been there to watch as the light faded from Tommy's eyes and as Dream calmly washed his hands in the sink. Sam never spoke a word, but behind his mask, there was a haunted look of guilt. They both knew Sam shared the blame, even if he wasn't the one who killed him. 

"I can bring him back," Dream spoke firmly, his own mask hiding the calculating smile, "but..." 

"I'll be back for him." Then the lava fell back into place, ever so slowly falling. 

It had been planned, maybe not from the start, but the more he had thought about his next deliberate move, the more the choice became wiser. It was a power play, and ever so slowly, Dream was inching his way to freedom. 

Dream needed Tommy. After all, Tommy was the key to controlling the potential of the server. He had seen the way Tommy had been even able to look death in the face and fight back; he had seen the way Tommy's hopeful shouts managed to move the server. He needed Tommy, but at the moment, he could afford his death. Once Dream needed him back, he had the Book of Necromancy. 

It made Dream feel like a god. He could control when and if people lived or died. 

With that sort of power, he could secure his freedom. Sam was undoubtedly guilty enough to take the deal, and there were others out there that wouldn't hesitate to exchange Tommy's life with Dream's freedom. Dream didn't need to explain that he needed Tommy alive to win. 

"So you finally did it, huh?" Dream wasn't surprised; ghosts had a habit of popping up. "Didn't think you'd do it in here, though. Thought you'd want an audience."

Tommy's glowing silhouette flickered in front of the lava curtain. He seemed to solidify in front of Dream as he moved forward, carefully stepping over his own lifeless body as he moved. He wore a crisp and clean uniform, buttoned up in gold and blue. The hat on his head slipped as he moved, but Tommy hardly paid attention to it. A grey and white cat rested on his shoulder, but neither it nor the collar of his jacket covered the hand-shaped bruises around his neck. 

He wondered if the L'manburg uniform meant something. Perhaps it had been the time when Tommy was the happiest. 

"Sam saw it happened." Dream shrugged. "does that count?"

Tommy's fists clenched at his side, and his eyes burn with a fiery sense of rebellion and revenge. It was oddly nostalgic, a sight that could be traced back to their earliest interactions on the server. Dream found it amusing; even in death, Tommy lived to defy. It was why Dream needed him.

"You bitch," Tommy sputtered out, the cat on his shoulder hissing out at Dream as if it sensed his owner's agitation. 

"Swear all you want, Tommy, but that isn't going to help you." 

"No, you listen to me, Dream. You messed up," Tommy gestured wildly at his broken body behind him, "no one is going to let you get out of here, especially after this. You can't hurt anyone from in here either, so you still don't have any power. Admit it, you lost."

Once again, Dream merely shrugged. "They will if I have what they want, and currently, I do."

"What do you have, potatoes? I don't think that's going to sway Technoblade." Tommy turned towards the back of the cell. "Just saying, you don't have anything of importance in here."

"I have you."

Tommy whirled around, his expression clouded with confusion. "That's fucked up. What does that mean? You don't have me; I'm dead! You can't control me anymore, Dream." 

Dream hummed as he approached Tommy's taut silhouette. "You forget, I can control whether you live or die. If they're desperate enough, they'll come and have no choice but to let me go." 

"They would never! Dream, I don't think you know, but those guys don't care about me. Tubbo, maybe. Sam, sure. But the rest of them, they're happy. We're both gone, and that's what the whole server has been about." 

Tommy didn't understand. Of course, he wouldn't. He didn't see power as Dream saw it. Tommy was powerful, he had always been a powerful figurehead on the server, and Dream was confident people would quickly realize this. He was a uniting force, and with more conflicts arising, they would need Tommy. 

"Regardless if they care about you or not, they need you. There's a reason you've always been in the midst of everything, Tommy. I know you're smart enough to realize the impact you have on this server."

"Yeah, because I'm the only one who ever saw through your lies. I'm the only one who defied you." Tommy jabbed a finger at Dream's chest. "You told me this in exile, don't think I've forgotten, bastard."

"Exactly, the bug in my roo-"

"Look, Dream. I'm going to do every little thing I can to stop you because unlike you," Tommy laughed as he sunk through the lava, "I'm not stuck in some pathetic little cell. By killing me, you've made your little plan fall apart."

For a moment, Tommy's silhouette flickered in the lava before it disappeared, and ever so slowly, the game began again. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have never written Technoblade so whoops, OOC alert. The next chapter will be the final chapter and it will once again focus on Dream. 
> 
> This story is based on headcanons and speculation and is referencing the fictional characters of the Dream SMP.

Death was confusing. It was full of silence and reflections, neither of which Tommy was used to dealing with. The only time there had been silence was in his exile. Thinking then hadn't helped, not when his thoughts screamed at him to give up, so he didn't give himself time to think.

Death, however, offered little more than a place to think about life, and so Tommy did. He thought about it as Wilbur gave him a choice, _to live or let go_ , and he thought about it as he made his choice.

Ever the soldier, they both knew Tommy's battle wasn't over. After all, he had begged to live.

Life was different than death in a lot of ways. It was alive like the trees moving in the wind or the hum of bees swarming a hive. Death was still, and life was not. It was the peace and relief that never came, and as Tommy trudged along the empty Prime Path, he wondered if he regretted making this choice. 

Death offered the closure life had never easily handed him. 

Tommy stared down through the glass of the memorial over L'manburg, he wasn't sure who built it, but he floated between the glass and towards the ruins on the ground. There was little there, mostly only the remains of burnt houses covered in vines, but he stumbled his way towards the flag. 

L'manburg hadn't been the start of the rivalry between Dream and him, but it was through L'manburg that they both understood the weight of the power struggle. After all, discs weren't worth the independence of a nation. He supposed it didn't matter; it had never truly been about discs or L'manburg. Still, L'manburg had been his home and something, perhaps the idea of it, Tommy had been loyal to until the bitter end. 

The glass creaked behind him as someone joined him above the crater. Tommy turned, still deep in thought, and stared. Behind him, armor hidden underneath his red cloak, and serious as ever stood Technoblade. 

"I should have guessed you'd be here too." Technoblade's voice was gruff and uncertain. He knew, maybe it was the way that Tommy still stood with a fire in his eyes, that Tommy hadn't changed much since his death. 

"I didn't think you'd be out of the tundra any time soon." Tommy retorted. "You're the biggest hermit on the server." 

"I went to your funeral."

Tommy wasn't surprised that there had been a funeral for him; he was mostly glad that his body had been retrieved from Dream's clutches. It didn't offer much security, but at least Dream had lost some control. He was more surprised that Technoblade had shown up at his funeral. They didn't exactly part on the best of terms, and for most of the last few months, they had been more on opposite sides. Still, Tommy had respect for Technoblade that was reserved for a select few. 

"Was it a good funeral?" Even if he had known, Tommy wouldn't have attended. There was something that felt forbidden about watching a group of people mourn for him. Perhaps it was also because he didn't have the heart to face Tubbo yet, not when his lungs ached with panicked breathing. 

"They did their best; from what I saw, they weren't given much of a warning." Technoblade lowered his gaze towards the crater beneath them. "Why are you here?"

Tommy shrugged, "there's a song that needs to be finished. Pretty sure Wilbur summed that up somewhere in one of his speeches." 

Tommy found it ironic; both Wilbur and Technoblade had always been speakers. Wilbur had a way with words that made teenagers into soldiers and countries into abandoned projects. Technoblade had his own speeches, ones that promised a future that Tommy hadn't been able to escape. 

"Are you here for L'manburg?"

"No," Tommy scoffed, "L'manburg ended a long time ago. I'm here because I think Dream needs to stay locked up in that prison."

Technoblade considered the statement. "It seems that job is done. That prison is inescapable; I've seen the outside." 

"We both know Dream has the ability to get out. He's just been waiting, and my death has given him a way." Tommy crossed his arms, careful not to disturb the cat on his shoulder. "He'll bargain resurrection, mine specifically, for his freedom. I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow negotiates with Wilbur's or even Phil's potential death."

Tommy noticed the protective shift in Technoblade's frown or the way that his hand tightened on the pickaxe hidden under his cloak. It was what Tommy wanted; he needed a powerful player on his side. 

"He needs to stay in there; we both know that, right? If he's in there, he can't threaten Phil." Tommy stepped forward. "I need you to do something for me. I need you to keep them away from the prison, like Tubbo or whoever will try to take that deal."

Technoblade's frown was calculating. He studied Tommy silently and intently. Tommy hoped that playing with the idea that Dream could threaten Phil's death, which wasn't strictly out of the question for Dream, that he could win Technoblade on his side enough that he'd stop something from happening. 

There was a long moment of silence between them before Technoblade turned away. "I'll watch the prison; you watch out for cliffs, Theseus."

There was something odd about watching Technoblade walk away, even if it took Tommy's death, with their interests aligned once again. He wondered if perhaps, they were more similar than they thought. They were both loyal to their beliefs and their friends. Maybe their downfall had been that they were both too stubborn to admit their wrongs. 

The sun began to rise, and with it, Tommy was once again alone to his thoughts. He wondered if this would be enough to keep Dream from using his plan. He hadn't considered asking Technoblade for help in the first place; he had been too stubborn to march to the lone group of houses in the tundra, but he didn't have a plan beforehand. Perhaps this was better; at least he didn't have to beg for Tubbo not to bring him back. 

Behind him, the glass creaked again, "Tommy?" His heart ached. 


End file.
